CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Adelaide With Dilshan Fielding Magic And Fine Allround Effort!

Top Spin By Suni For LankaWeb Cricket ~ February 10th 2006

The delightful agility and reflexes of a fired up Tillekeratne Dilshan whose unerring throws at his intended targets sent back 4 Aussies hopelessly run out together with a fine team effort by the Sri Lankans as they toppled Australia in the opener of the best of 3 VB series final at Adelaide. With sparkling batting by Marvan Artapattu, Kumar Sangakkara,Tllekeratne Dilshan and Chamara Kapugedera Sri Lanka has sent the the Aussies crashing to a 22 run defeat as they head out to Sydney where the Sydney wicket too could prove to be as daunting as Adelaide for the Australians if the Lankans continue in their fine fettle as shown today! all fired up with nothing to lose in being adventurous while playing cavalier type cricket as there seemed to be a spark evoking old memories for the record!

Having been through the dissapointments in India and New Zealand lately, Sri Lanka appears to be brimming with confidence after this landmark win against the world champs and will be looking for more blood where the Sydney wicket could also suit them. The helter skelter of the Australian batsmen seemed to indicate some disarray from the very outset of their chase as the Sri Lankans, initially having embarked on what seemed a tentative run quest with tight bowling from the Aussie speedsters and spinners eventually opened up as their tail wagged handsomely while applying relentless pressure on the Aussie early order batting when it was their turn at the wicket and they eventually bit the dust to the dismay of home crowd support and the delight of a small contingent of Lankan fans.

Sri Lanka having decided to bat after Marvan Atapattu won another valuable toss opened their essay somewhat cautiously with Sanath Jayasuriya and Atapattu appearing somewhat sedate as 44 was added for the first wicket and Jayasuriya was the first to go caught Hogg off Clarke.(44 for 1) Kumar Sangakkarand Marvan Atapattu then consolidated the Sri Lankan innings adding 65 for the 2nd wicket. Sangakkara stroked an elegant 83 from 106 balls and Atapattu close behind with some sensible though cautious batting for 53 pushing the score along until Atapattu was bowled by Hogg. (109 for 2) Next in Mahela Jayawardena was caught and bowled Clarke for 11 never settling in. Arnold and Sangakkara continued a gradual build up of the total, inching into the 200 mark when Arnold scooped up an easy catch to Symonds off Bracken (200 for 4).and Sangakkara went 12 runs later to a deft caught and bowled by Symonds for his Man Of The match posting of 83. (212 for 5)

Then came the fireworks as Tillekeratne Dilshan and Chamara Kapugedera together at the wicket next tore the Aussie attack apart in their late charge as the Lankans breezed to a convincing total of 274 for 8 while losing the wickets of Chaminda Vaas hopelessly run out for 1 (272 for 7)and Muttiah Muralitharan attempting to clear the stands with a mighty swing and a miss caught in the deep by Symonds off Bracken for 0 (272 for 8). Kapugedera was particularly harsh on the Aussie attack at this stage with Brett Lee, Symonds and Bracken in their closing overs where both Dilshan and Kapugedera hoisted the bowling for 5 thunderous sixes between them, one of Dishan's hoiks clearing the stands. Newcomer Kapugedera hit 3 sixes and two fours in his whirlwind 38 in 21 deliveries and Dishan unbeaten on 26 to close on 274 for 8 leaving a target of 275 for an Aussie win which eventually slipped beyond their grasp mainly due to the fine Lankan ground fielding, tight bowling and Dishan's 4 amazing runouts.

Chasing Sri Lanka's tally the Aussies were in trouble after an opening partnership of 51 between Gichrist and Katich when the former was snapped up by Russel Arnold off opener Kulasekera for 26 (51 for 1) and Australia had slumped to 64 for 3 as the spate of runouts involving Ponting 0 (52 for 2) , Martyn 1 (64 for 3) with Symonds being stumped for 16 (94 for 4) off Muralitharan stepping in as part of the debacle and Katich whose stoic effort with the bat also run out for 56 (122 for 5) setting the pace for the Lankans honing in on the kill. Michael Hussey was dismissed equally embarrasingly by a Dilshan / Sangakkara combined effort for 16 (156 for 6). Muralitharan and Bandara pegged in the Aussie tail accounting for Hopes caught Dilshan for 3 (165 for 7) Malinga Bandara clinically removing Hogg for 1 (166 for 8) caught Jayasuriya. When Brett Lee was bowled by Muralitharan for 19 (213 for 9) Clarke was still at the wicket for his defiant 80 only to be caught up in the Lankan target practice session which also saw him stranded to a deft Jayasuriya direct hit and the Lankans were already celebrating! Clarke flattered and failed with his defiant 80 as the Aussies were all out 252. Neil Bracken was unbeaten on 13 and the Lankans were already celebrating!

The Aussie loss in retrospect was uncannily reminiscent of the aimless misunderstandings a team could get caught up in during a mad scramble and a chase for victory but surprising and somewhat unbecoming of the normally cool Aussies as to the tally of runouts in a single game for which the Lankans bear a greater notoriety and the boot being on the other foot as perhaps the Law of Averages held in their favour and the resilient Lankans found themselves in overdrive as they ran circles round the Aussies!!

The Sydney matchup consequent to the Aussie loss on home turf is also expected to be a dandy!

Sri Lanka 274 for 8 (Sangakkara 83, Atapattu 53, Kapugedera 38, Dilshan 26 not out, Bracken 3-61) beat Australia 252 (Clarke 80, Katich 56) by 22 runs

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER